Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastrutture e Trasporti  in the Meloni government

Matteo Salvini is an Italian journalist and politician. He worked as a professional journalist for the newspaper La Padania and Radio Padania, where he served as the director from 1999 to 2013. He joined the Lega Nord in 1990 and held various positions within the party. 

 Salvini was the Youth Group Leader in Milan from 1994 to 1997 and the Provincial Secretary of the Lega Nord in Milan from 1998 to 2004. He also served as a municipal councilor in Milan from 1993 to 2012. In 2004, he became a Member of the European Parliament until 2006. He then resigned from the European Parliament in 2009 after being elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. In 2013, Salvini was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies and later became the federal secretary of the Lega Nord after winning the party’s primaries.  

Salvini was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2014. In 2017, he was confirmed as the secretary of the Lega Nord during the party’s congress. In the 2018 Italian general elections, the Lega Nord formed a center-right coalition with Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy, and Us with Italy, which collectively obtained around 37% of the votes. The Lega Nord achieved historic results, receiving approximately 17% of the votes and becoming the largest party within the coalition. Salvini became the leader of the coalition. Although the coalition was the largest, it did not reach an absolute majority to form a government. 

 Following prolonged political negotiations, the Lega Nord reached an agreement with the Five Star Movement and proposed jurist Giuseppe Conte as the shared prime minister, forming the first yellow-green government in Italian history. From June 1, 2018, to September 5, 2019, Salvini served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in the Conte government. 

 In the 2019 European Parliament elections, the Lega Nord achieved remarkable success, receiving over 34% of the votes and becoming the most voted party in Italy. Due to divergences within the ruling coalition, the Lega Nord presented and later withdrew a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Conte in August 2019. Conte subsequently resigned, and a new government led by Conte was formed with the majority consisting of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party. The Lega Nord moved to the opposition. 

 In January 2021, the second Conte government faced a crisis, and in February, the Draghi government was formed with the support of the Lega Nord. In the 2022 general elections, although the Lega Nord experienced a decline in support, receiving less than 9% of the votes, the center-right coalition, in which the party participated along with Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy, and Moderates, obtained approximately 44% of the votes, securing an absolute majority in Parliament. Salvini was re-elected to the Senate. 

 Since October 22, 2022, Salvini has been serving as the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport in the Meloni government.